Image this: you’re a probationer and you’ll soon be given a chance to make a new start. You want to make the best of that opportunity, but you have questions. Can I get my license back? Can I see my children? What are my options for learning a new trade? Wouldn’t it be a relief if there was someone who could help you get started? Fortunately, there is.

The Community Reentry Readiness Program is officially underway once again. This month, Community Reentry Readiness Committee Member Raquel Webster (National Grid USA) returned to Moakley Courthouse with family law expert Brian McLaughlin (Brian McLaughlin Esq. LLC) to talk to the probationers about child support, paternity, and child custody issues.

Beyond the Billable reached out to Brian to hear more about his experience volunteering with the program. Here’s what he had to say:

“It is a privilege and an honor to present alongside Attorney Raquel Webster. Through Attorney Webster’s efforts and with help from the Public Interest Leadership Program’s members, former inmates will have a greater chance of success, thereby decreasing the recidivism rate. Information equals power. The new skills that these newly freed individuals learn through this course will give them a leg up in the outside world. It is days like this, that I’m proud to call myself a lawyer and a member of Boston’s legal community.”

Pauline Quirion (GBLS) met with federal probationers taking part in the CARE/RESTART Program to discuss sealing their CORIs through the BBA Community Reentry Readiness Program.

The BBA officially kicked off the start of the Community Reentry Readiness Program last Wednesday with a session on sealing CORIs at the Federal District Court. You may remember the success of PILP 9’s Community Reentry Readiness Pilot Program. If not, here’s the deal. Through the Community Reentry Readiness Program, volunteer attorneys deliver civil legal education workshops to federal probations in the CARE/RESTART Program on issues that they may face upon reentry to reduce the risk of recidivism. The pilot program was such a success that the BBA and Federal Court once again teamed up to continue the program.

Last Wednesday, Pauline Quirion (Greater Boston Legal Services) met with the group of probationers to discuss CORI sealing. Each month, volunteers will meet with the probationers to discuss topics, including housing, employment, family law, and others. Stay tuned for more.